Ron had been sitting at his desk long after Fred left. He had a mountain of assignments to do, but his mind reeled. Despite working at the S.E.A., he was still very intimidated by President Arnold, but the best course of action was to make sure Albert was safe. Ron was quite sure he was, but there was still that lingering doubt that he would feel a lot better if it was squashed entirely.

Ron sat up and grabbed the phone. Without thinking too hard, he dialed the number for President Arnold’s secretary.

“President Arnold’s office,” she said.

“Is President Arnold available for me to chat with him? Just on the phone? I have an idea I’d like to run by him,” Ron said.

“Let’s see.” She started tapping away on the computer. “He’s in a meeting right now with Mr. Germain and Mr. McCarthy, but I’ll let him know. He has a few minutes before his next scheduled meeting he could call you.”

“Thank you.”

Ron placed the receiver down, somehow feeling pale. He stared at his work, running through his memories again of what Fred told him. Some of it was not that hard to believe. Others, a lot harder. He tried to remember what he knew about Albert. Ron never felt threatened by the teenager. If anything, he enjoyed the chat he had with him. The kid knew science. That by itself couldn’t be a crime. Yes, Albert was revealed as being a part of the underground, but what if the S.E.A. had driven him to such a decision? Could he blame Albert for wanting to study science?

The phone rang, and Ron had completely lost track of how long he’d been lost in his memories. He picked up the receiver. “Hello?”

“Ron! I heard you wanted to talk to me?” President Arnold asked.

Ron ran a hand through his hair and put on a convincing fake smile as sweat started to break out on his forehead. “Yes! More of a question. I’ve been thinking a lot about my ex-intern lately. How is he?”

“Ah, yes. Albert. Well, we’ve been trying to get information out of him about the whereabouts of the underground. Getting rid of the underground is vital to continue the peace of the city.”

“Oh, I completely agree. I called to see if I could help. See, Albert and I were getting quite close during this internship. Maybe if he saw me as a friend, he would tell me.”

“Hmm, I hadn’t thought of that,” President Arnold said. Ron’s heart hammered in his chest so hard it hurt. “Here’s the problem I foresee. This boy is part of the underground. He’s been trained by some of the best. He’s liable to tell you anything in order to turn you against me.” President Arnold gave a little chuckle. “He’s already tried to convince Mr. Germain a whole number of things that are simply not true.”

“Oh?” Ron asked. “Like what?”

“That the underground is peaceful, first of all. That the underground was desperate, so they recruited teens. Obviously teens are far more susceptible to the lies they give. Just creating a ton of little scientists all over the city where they don’t need to be. Oh, and get this, a secret basement? In the skyscraper?” President Arnold started laughing, and Ron joined in because he knew he had to, but the unease in his stomach tripled. Either President Arnold was feeding him lies, or partial truths to further manipulate him.

“And here I thought scientists didn’t have imaginations!” Ron said.

“Right? Granted, the boy looks bad because he fought against the agents arresting him,” President Arnold said.

“Scientists, right? The agents probably told him to stop and he still put up a fight. It’s like they don’t understand basic communication at all,” Ron said, wincing as it came out of his mouth.

“Exactly! These scientists, you just never know,” President Arnold said. “So are you absolutely certain you can handle it? He’s got quite the lies coming out of him.”

“I’m certain if I try and rekindle the kindness we shared, I can get the address of the underground out of him,” Ron said.

“Ah, that might be a good tactic. Pretend to listen to him, to care about his situation. If you’re overly friendly and listen to all the lies he said… yes! He will think you’re on his side, and then Albert can give the location of the underground. Perfect! When are you available?” President Arnold asked.

The phone was sliding in Ron’s sweaty hand as he gripped it tighter. “I mean, now, if you’d like.”

“Wonderful. Come to my office. It might deter his willingness to see you as a friend, but you might just make it work.” President Arnold said.

“Of course. I am happy to help,” Ron said.

“Wonderful! This might get you a promotion! How does “Official” sound, Ron?”

“It sounds amazing!” Ron said as he wiped his brow of sweat.

“Ambrose will meet you in the elevators,” President Arnold said.

“I will wait for him there,” Ron said.

He hung up, his hands started to shake. President Arnold knew where Albert was. President Arnold, so far, was not divulging that information to any public records. It was the kind of political move he expected from him, but it still made him deeply uncomfortable.

Ron left his office and headed for the elevators. He tried to prepare, to make himself look like he wasn’t terrified. He tried to go over what exactly he was doing. Fred wanted him to check on Albert because there were no records of where he was. Fred also believed there was a secret basement level in the S.E.A. He needed to check to make sure Albert was okay, try to be friendly, see what he could find out, and judge from there. Honestly, he didn’t expect this twist of having this interrogation in President Arnold’s actual office, but he had to do what he could. President Arnold would absolutely be listening in, so he had to be careful.

The doors of the elevator opened, and Mr. Germain stood there, smiling. “Ron, come with me.” Ron smiled and got on the elevator. Mr. Germain swiped his card and hit the highest button, and the elevator headed up. Ron’s phone started to buzz, so he pulled it out of his pocket. He was getting a text message from John. He opened his phone to read it.

No answer at Agatha’s house. Parents might be at work. Heading toward Anne’s now.

Ron blinked, then put it in his pocket. He tried not to comprehend what this information meant.

“Who was that?” Mr. Germain asked.

“John. We’re finalizing some plans for the weekend,” Ron said.

“Shooting range?” Mr. Germain asked.

Ron nodded. “Shooting range.”

Mr. Germain chuckled as Ron tried to smile. Mr. Germain was someone so devoted to President Arnold that he arrested his own wife. Ron tried not to think about the trap of high officials waiting for him in President Arnold’s office. He still wasn’t sure what he believed, but either way, surrounded by so many high ups in the government was enough to make anyone sweat.

The doors opened. Mr. Germain and Ron entered President Arnold’s office. President Arnold stood up and smiled, giving Ron a crushing hug. “I am so glad you are here, Ron. Feel free to use my office to work your magic. I know you’ll get us the information we need.”

Ron nodded. “I’ll do my best sir.”

“Now, don’t you worry. Ambrose and I will be right outside if you need any help. And take this.” President Arnold gave Ron a folder. “It’s all the information we know so far.”

“Alright. Thank you.”

“Go sit in the big chair there, Ron,” President Arnold said. “You never know, you might sit in there one day.”

Ron smiled as he walked into President Arnold’s office. He set the folder down and paused before he sat down in the chair.

“Comfortable, isn’t it,” President Arnold said.

“Addictingly so, sir,” Ron said as he swiveled a bit in the chair.

President Arnold laughed. “I’ll leave you to study, Ron. Remember, try to get the address of the underground from him.”

“Of course.”

As soon as President Arnold left, Ron grabbed the file and opened it, scanning its pages. Most of it was Albert’s school files. He had excellent marks in all his classes, both in science and art. Ron couldn’t help but be impressed. It was no wonder this kid got into Presley. He turned some pages to see the file on his arrest. There was little about what it said. Just how they got an anonymous tip that Albert was in the underground and was now doing sessions with H.H. Holmes.

Ron frowned. Mr. Holmes was John’s superior. What was his first name? Henry? Herman? Both? He couldn’t quite remember. All he knew was Mr. Holmes was the official over security. What did these notes mean about sessions? What sessions were they doing? Ron turned the page, but there was nothing else there. Surely they would write something down about the sessions and what they talked about. Ron saw a stray piece of paper stuck to the crease of the folder. Did President Arnold purposefully try to remove them?

Ron shook his head. As much as he wanted to disbelieve it, he couldn’t. He was working in the government, had learned some uncomfortable things about what the government had been doing. Would they still hold back from him?

The door was thrown open, cutting off Ron’s train of thought. Ron glanced up to see who it was then returned to the file. It took that long for his brain to register what he saw, and the shock of it made him take a second, longer look.

Mr. Holmes dragged Albert by his collar into President Arnold’s office. Ron didn’t notice Mr. Holmes as much as he saw Albert. He had a huge bruise on the side of his face. It might have been a black eye, except it didn’t just cover his eye. Maybe it was three bruises around his eye, cheek, and forehead that merged together as one giant bruise. His nose had been broken with dried blood smeared across his face.

Mr. Holmes forced Albert in the chair, and Albert let out a groan as he cradled a broken wrist with his other hand. Ron half expected Albert to start laughing, to give Mr. Holmes a joking elbow to the side. “I told you it would give him a shock! You can wipe the makeup off me!” But Albert never said it. Albert kept his head down, staring at the ground. There was a part where he thought maybe the injuries were from resisting arrest, but when Mr. Holmes got too close to Albert, he flinched and moved away as far as he could. Ron’s chest heaved as everything else in the room disappeared except for Albert sitting broken in a chair.